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Anna Kocka
English 308
Professor Cote
December 2, 2013
Well Rounded Education
Historically all across the world, nations have been exercising the practice of
foreign language education. Even the United States of America once prided itself in the
learning of multiple languages. In the modern world, America is seeing more resistance
to the thought of bilingual education in many areas across the states, but others seem to
be embracing this brave new world of language. What was once common practice is
now viewed as a new idea in the American education system. Some say foreign
language education is unnecessary and that in this day and age all one needs to function
in the business world is English. Others describe bilingualism as the best way to get the
upper hand in our globalized world. Some believe that bilingual education simply
creates an academically weaker student in two languages, some see value in global
interdependence and language networking. Others might question the benefits of
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speaking more than one language in a world where all important situations could be
properly dealt with in English.
Value of Language
Nearly as long as civilizations have been in existence, communication between
peoples has been an important part of society. In the present age communication is
even more valuable than before. Although globalization has been made easier by the
technological advances made in the last century, language is still a valuable skill in
everyday life. In Germany, second language, or L2, education starts in the 5th grade.
Value is found in the exploration of other languages and cultures that their nation
interacts with. It is also widely accepted that English is an important international skill
that should be provided from a young age. The second foreign language, or L3, is
introduced in the higher school systems during the 7th grade. This is usually a choice
between French, Spanish and Latin. Other languages may be available according to
school districts and local teacher selections. Clearly, other European languages could
be useful in neighboring counties and are therefore taught for business purposes. Latin
is also a common root language and assists in many language and science fields that
may be later pursued.
In the United States of America, it is a rare occasion that a school lower than
Middle School or even High School level would offer foreign languages to students.
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Some states do not even require any foreign language in order for a student to obtain a
high school diploma like Kansas and Illinois (States 2010). In some states, such as
Minnesota and Pennsylvania, it is a local decision for schools to require foreign
language as a graduation requirement and therefore many students are allowed to
graduate without any foreign language knowledge. In many other states, “2 units” of
foreign language are required (States 2010). This 2 unit norm is hardly enough for a
student to function on any level in that selected foreign language. In the European
measurement of foreign language, B2 is the target foreign language level. By B2, a
speaker has mastered fluency in most areas but is not yet at a native or university level
in all areas (Language). Most American students who study a foreign language in High
School barely reach the A1 or A2 levels of language. It is common for a student to
graduate with the required amount of language and still have little to no knowledge of
the language they have studied. Therefore, the American system of teaching foreign
language has been hypothesized as mostly ineffective in a world full of language
learners.
Bilingual Education
It is a common misconception that when someone learns a foreign language,
especially in a bilingual school situation, that their L1 will be weakened. However, for
a student whose first language is strong in grammar and vocabulary, and L2 can
actually strengthen their L1. Learning a second language can help a student better
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express themselves with new vocabulary. On the other hand, when a student learns a
second language at a young age and their L1 is neglected, the poor foundation of their
L1 can actually prevent a strong L2. For example, if a student enters an American
school with a basic but weak foundation in Spanish and they learn English, their
English skills will suffer from the weakness of their Spanish. There are also many
concepts that are easier to grasp in one language than another. For example, in English
nouns are only prescribed a gender if they are human and there is one article for “the”
and one also two articles “a” and “an”. In German, all nouns are masculine, feminine
or neutral. To accompany the three genders of nouns, there are different words for
“the”- masculine “der”, feminine “die”, and neutral “das”. When these nouns move
from the subject of a sentence, the article also change accordingly. Prepositions also
vary from language to language. In Spanish, the word for “on” is used when describing
a person moving from one place to another using a vehicle. In English, the preposition
“in” would be used. Such concepts can be confusing to a young learner, but will
eventually even out in their vocabulary as they strengthen their language skills.
In a world where English is a leading business language there is little motivation
for English speakers to learn a foreign language. However, the value language holds
grows no less over time. If students were to see the value of language as a whole, their
reason to learn a foreign language would grow stronger. Even in the United States
education stressed the value of languages besides English until after World War I when
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it suddenly was “viewed as un-American behavior” (Bilingual 1). In order for the
personal value of language to increase, the national perspective of language must be
enhanced. As before stated, other countries learn languages earlier, more intensively
and more thoroughly than the United States educational system demands. If this
standard was raised, the national value of language for the purpose of trade,
communication and cultural richness would grow in turn.
Styles of Education
A few different styles of approach have been created in response to the demand
for bilingual education in the United States.
“Limited-English speaking children with the same native language must be
grouped together in a classroom where they will be taught all subjects in that
language- reading, writing, math, science, social studies with a short, daily
English language lesson (45 minutes), in the first year. The ratio of native
language teaching to English teaching is 80 percent to 20 percent of the school
day. In the second year, some subjects will be taught in English, some in the
native language, moving to a 50-50 ratio of school time. In the third year, most
teaching will be in English, with some language arts still given in the native
language, composing an approximate 20-80 ratio favoring English” (Porter
1998).
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This system of learning would be called Transitional Bilingual Education. However, in
many American schools, there is not enough bilingual staff to create such an
atmosphere. On top of that, there are many more languages spoken in the United States
schools than teachers who speak those languages. Spanish may be one language that is
easy to find teachers for, but the educational system is not prepared to create bilingual
classrooms for every language spoken. More realistically, the American education
system is utilizing the Dual Language Immersion approach. This style incorporates two
languages in order to create an atmosphere receptive to natives of both languages.
Benefits of Bilingual Education Locally
So one might wonder what the benefits of bilingual education are. When
children are of the elementary school age, students are learning language at a rate other
age groups cannot. The idea of a bilingual program is to utilize the abilities of the
young learners. In Harrisonburg, Virginia alone, many schools are realizing the
importance of language learning, specifically Spanish. In Harrisonburg City’s own
Waterman Elementary school, many students are learning Spanish along with their
foundational curriculum. The principle of Waterman Elementary, Jeremy Weaver, says
“There is a lot of research and lots of studies that show that kids can learn languages
more quickly especially when they’re younger. ..The kids (at Waterman) have the
opportunity to learn basic words and school words and we have found that there’s
benefit there” (Giron 22). The idea behind introducing Spanish so early is that there
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will be will a strong foundation for students to improve their Spanish if they choose to
during their later years of education.
Harrisonburg City schools are also moving toward providing bilingual
education options for both English language learners and native English speakers. In
Smithland Elementary School, half the day is offered in Spanish and half the day is in
English. Not only does this Dual Language Immersion program help native English
speakers to learn Spanish at a young age, but the split day helps English language
learners to succeed in their academics in an environment that traditionally stifles
students who are not fully English proficient. Principle Gary Painter of Smithland
Elementary in Harrisonburg Virginia says “We want children to appreciate and interact
with other cultures. Being bilingual opens you up to new worlds” (Duda 25). Smithland
hopes that by providing bilingual education, both native English speakers and English
language learners will benefit.
Benefit in the Long Run
As students learn a second language in elementary school, the hope is that the
school systems are creating academically strong and well-rounded individuals.
Bilingualism is a valuable characteristic in this modern age and by implementing
bilingual education in many school districts, students are given an opportunity to
succeed in their future with this new language skill.
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Bibliography Page
"Bilingual Education in the United States - Springer." Bilingual Education in the
United States - Springer. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
<http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-4531-2_19#page-2>.
Duda, Mark. "Dual Language Immersion Expands at Smithland." Harrisonburg City
Public Schools 1 Aug. 2012: 25. Print.
Giron, Victoria. "Waterman introduces Spanish Program." Harrisonburg City Public
Schools 1 Aug. 2012: 22. Print.
"Language Self- Assessment Grid." Council of Europe. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
<http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Other/2010/03/WC
500075218.pdf>.
Porter, Ed. D. Rosalie. "The Failure of Bilingual Education." The Communitarian
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<http://www.gwu.edu/~ccps/pop_billing.html>.
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Requirements." National Council for Social Studies. N.p., 1 Mar. 2010. Web. 22
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